It’s all in the detailing: How to clean your car like the pros

Save yourself some major cleaning dollars with these do-it-yourself tips.

Supplied, Fotolia

Save yourself some major cleaning dollars with these do-it-yourself tips

by
Brian Turner | July 26, 2016

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With summer in full swing, our renewed love affair with vehicles goes hand-in-hand with giving it a thorough detailing.

Professional car cleaning shops can do a bang-up job on even the grimiest chariot, but you can save yourself some major dollars and achieve similar results with little effort. Besides, there’s something rather therapeutic about getting away from it all and spending a few hours on a bright Saturday morning in your driveway to achieve some worthwhile and tangible results.

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Start on the outside first. Trying to clean the interior of a car before washing the exterior is like shoveling snow while it’s still falling. You’ll be constantly dragging dirt and grime in. Many may argue the reverse is best to keep dust and grit from the interior getting on the outside. But if you waxed the exterior or let it dry completely, any dust will simply blow off.

When dealing with bug splatters, use a generous application of car-wash suds and clean the area with a wash mitt

Avoid parking in direct sunlight as it can cause water spots when the sheet metal dries too fast. Rinse the entire vehicle thoroughly to avoid grinding grit into the paint with your wash mitt. You’ll get better results if you tackle one panel at a time; e.g. roof, door, fender, etc. Start at the top and work down, with the roof being the first panel to tackle. Re-rinse each panel before giving it a rub-down with a soapy wash mitt; immediately rinse again before starting the next panel.

Continually check your wash mitt for any grit, and rinse it directly with the garden hose before proceeding. Also check on the soapy wash water frequently and replace it if it gets too dirty. Avoid using the wash mitt on the wheel wells as, no matter how well you’ve rinsed these areas, they will always contain grit and sand; use a cloth or mitt reserved especially for these areas.

After every panel is done, give the exterior a final rinse and wipe it down with your chamois to avoid water spots. Note: If you’re using hard well water, you need to wipe down every panel immediately after it’s cleaned and rinsed, to keep water spots to a minimum.

If you wax, wax on and wax off before hitting the interior. Leaving a clean exterior before waxing (even for the short time you may be working on the interior), is a quick way to wax grit into the paint. Clean vehicles are like grit magnets, so the quicker you finish the exterior, the better. Stick with trusted name brands like Turtle or Meguiar’s for waxing (the liquids are the easiest to work with) and follow their package instructions.

Waxing doesn’t just bring out the gleam in automotive paint, it allows dirt to easily rinse off, making quick washes between complete detailings a breeze. Avoid coloured or tinted waxes like the plague; they seldom match specific vehicle finishes and leave your ride looking like someone with a bad toupee.

Interiors are where you can shine. I don’t mean to suggest you should shine your dash top (too much of a visual distraction) – but rather, a great interior detail job can make even the most tired ride look new again.

One of the biggest hindrances to getting a vehicle interior clean is the lack of elbow space. Consider removing the front seats on smaller vehicles; on most vehicles, seats are held down by only four easily accessed bolts, and have one or two electrical connectors. If your chariot has seat-mounted side airbags, disconnect the battery before unplugging the seat’s electrical connectors.

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Start with a thorough vacuuming of floor carpets and seats. Lightly whacking the carpet with your vacuum attachment will cause deep grit to get to the surface, where it’s easily sucked up. A quality upholstery carpet cleaner will handle most stains, but road salt is the worst.

If your cleaner and a good brush scrubbing won’t lift the salt, you’ll have to resort to heat. A steam wand is best as it minimizes the amount of water that gets to the floor. Remember, automakers love to hide wiring, electrical connectors and other electronics under the carpets, so any moisture you put down has to be dried up to avoid potential problems.

Next week, we’ll cover tires, rims, chrome and the rest of the interior.